MEDIAINFORMATION Heike Bering, your press contact T +49(0)711 7451 759-15 · heike.bering@bering-kopal.de A NEW APPROACH TO LIGHT AND ACOUSTICS The Nimbus Group produces lighting and acoustics solutions that open up new horizons for designers. The new Lighting Pad was recently installed on the new premises of the Stylepark online platform. Franziska Michaelis, a member of the managing board, was very impressed: "We are very happy that we can work under the Lighting Pads every day because the lighting and acoustic effect are both outstanding!" Photo: Patricia Parinejad, Stylepark The Nimbus Group's Nimbus and Rosso brands provide inspiring answers to many questions designers are asking themselves with increasing regularity during the course of their projects. For example: "What potential does LED lighting hold?, "How can acoustically effective zones be designed?" – and now even "How might a combined lighting and acoustics solution work?" The Nimbus Group's Mock-Up in the Feuerbach district of Stuttgart could be described as a kind of hot spot. This somewhat rough-and-ready looking location attracts a large number of designers and architects who are on the lookout for holistic, often unconventional approaches in the field of light and acoustics. The fifteen-hundred-square-metre site not only accommodates the development department but also a number of exciting installations that allow visitors to immerse themselves in the worlds of the Nimbus Group's two brands: LED luminaires and lighting systems under the Nimbus brand – and acoustically effective ceiling and wall elements plus partitioning systems under the Rosso brand. Visitors generally arrive with a lot of questions and leave with inspiring answers. For example to the questions: "What potential does LED lighting hold?", "How can acoustically effective zones be designed?" – and now even "How might a combined lighting and acoustics solution work." "OUTSIDE-THE-BOX" PRODUCTS BORN FROM COLLABORATION WITH RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS Since the beginning of the nineteen nineties, acoustic solutions have been developed at the Mock-Up in a lively exchange with scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute. It all began with "Profil 22" and "Profil 33", two panel curtain systems with an elegant, pared-back rail system and a curtain material similar to architect's drafting film. This timelessly elegant system is still used today, and what makes it so special is the barely visible microperforations in the film that break up sound waves, thus significantly reducing reverberation time within a room. A panel curtain with drafting film and intelligent acoustic control. "A typical outside-the-box product," as Dietrich Brennenstuhl, founder and CEO of the Nimbus Group, characterises his invention. SUCCESSION OF NEW INSPIRATIONS However, these systems were just the beginning: "We applied the film to a honeycomb material, creating an element that is as light as a feather," recounts Brennenstuhl, who is often to be seen in the Mock-Up, for example giving visitors a tour of his product world or during one of the company's evening presentation and discussion events. In the CP30 system, Rosso offers interior designers a system that can be installed on the wall, ceiling or as baffles in the middle of a room while managing a balancing act between different requirements: it maintains lighting levels and transparency in a room yet gives privacy and is also acoustically effective. ROSSOACOUSTIC AND NIMBUS SPEAK THE SAME DESIGN LANGUAGE With the aim of creating an acoustically effective design counterpart to the characteristic luminaires and with architects and interior designers in mind, Brennenstuhl and his team developed the PAD system, which consists of an acoustic fleece with small indentations. These ceiling and wall absorbers are available in a wide range of shapes and colours and can be perfectly combined with Nimbus luminaires as they speak the same visual language. LIGHT AND ACOUSTICS COMBINED IN ONE PRODUCT FOR THE FIRST TIME As Brennenstuhl added: "The two areas of expertise – light and acoustics – slowly came closer over the years." Then, in 2018, they merged for the first time in a single product: the Lighting Pad. Special lenses from Bartenbach, an expert in lighting technology, were deployed in the sound absorber with integrated light. The light is emitted practically without glare and creates a special effect: the observer has the impression that the light comes from "behind the scenes", so to speak, immersing defined areas in brilliant light. EXCELLENT SERVICE To enhance the company's expertise in both areas, the Nimbus Group has employed acoustics specialists alongside its lighting experts for some years now. These acoustics professionals have appropriate training to enable them to carry out acoustic measurements on customer premises and draw up data-based acoustic planning based on the results. Furthermore, the Nimbus Group's Academy offers practical seminars and teaches many fundamentals of lighting and acoustics in compact presentations and practical exercises. The constantly growing expertise in both lighting and room acoustics is reflected in the broad portfolio. Dietrich Brennenstuhl has proved that he has a "nose" for sniffing out potential in certain issues – and that the solutions he comes up with are always excellent problem-solvers for designers. With Häfele by its side – the Nimbus Group has belonged to the Häfele group of companies since February 2019 – this potential can now be leveraged to an even greater extent. INNOVATIVE ABILITY The innovative ability of architect and company founder Dietrich Brennenstuhl is also appreciated at Häfele: "I have the pleasant task of being responsible for innovation in the new set-up too," he reports. He and his team are currently working on a software-based acoustics configuration tool, which will enable them to advise designers even better in their projects. The active control of acoustics is a further subject of research: "We are currently beginning to look into the case-by-case modification of room acoustics," says the agile CEO. It is all about "modifying a room so that its acoustics can be adapted to its current use, so that it has more reverberation or more dampening to fit current requirements. You could call it 'acoustic dimming'." The field of acoustics is broad, as is the scope for holistic solutions that integrate light in a new way. Entering the future as pioneer for acoustics and integrated lightacoustics solutions is a challenge that the Nimbus Group gladly accepts as an affiliate of Häfele. Stuttgart, December 2019 Reprint free of charge / File copy requested The way to the Nimbus Group's product development department. Specialists from a range of disciplines work for the company: designers, engineers, electrical and acoustics specialists, and lighting designers. Photo: René Müller the soft embossing of the acoustic fleece at specified distances. Hardly perceptible with the human eye, they surprise with their brilliant light quality. Photo: Frank Ockert Brilliant light falls onto the floor or surfaces at a specified angle. It embodies the Nimbus Group's characteristic minimalism insofar as the product is of high quality yet remains discreetly in the background. Photo: Frank Ockert The Lighting Pad is a highly effective, sound-absorbing acoustic suspended luminaire. Thanks to its different shapes (circle and square) it blends in perfectly with its surroundings. Photo: Frank Ockert About the Nimbus Group Innovative products for the design of the home and workplace – that is what the Nimbus Group stands for. Previously an owner-run company, Häfele acquired one hundred percent of the business in February 2019. Nimbus founder Dietrich Brennenstuhl will remain active in the management of the company at its present location in Stuttgart and will continue to be responsible for innovations, development and design of the product portfolio. Besides high-quality LED lighting systems and battery-powered, cableless luminaires, the Nimbus Group also provides modular, acoustically-effective partitioning and shading systems under its Rosso brand name. "Light Meets Acoustics" is the claim describing the company's extensive product range and its holistic approaches, which are realised in both private residences and in the project business. www.nimbus-group.com Stuttgart, December 2019 Reprint free of charge / File copy requested